THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PERFORMANCE IN PREGNANT WOMEN TOWARD DENTAL HYGIENE DURING PREGNANCY

Prognancy is a natural process which may create some changes in different parts of body, such as oral and dental systems. The changes might lead to oral diseases if sufficient and permanent care is not provided. For example, improper nutrition, covert oral and dental problems can affect the health of dental organ and even the other parts of body. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between awareness, attitude and practice of pregnant women regarding oral and dental care during pregnancy. The study sample consisted of 320 pregnant women in their 28th -42th week of pregnancy. In this study the stratified random sampling was used. The results showed that, 5.6% of the subjects had high awareness toward dental hygiene, whereas 65.9% and 28.4% of the women had moderate and low level of awareness respectively. In addition, 30% of the subjects had positive attitude toward dental care, whereas the majority (70%) had negative attitude. Regarding the performance of oral and dental care, only 34.4% had good practice. According to the results of the analysis, of variance there were correlation between variables of the awareness and attitude, awareness and practice and finally attitude and practice of the subjects (P=0.000). Also the correlation coefficient between the variables of awareness and attitude was more than the others (r=0.512). Based on the study findings, the investigators recommend that pregnant women should be educated effectively regarding oral and dental health awareness that might lead to good attitude and practice toward them. In addition it is recommended that the reasons of noncompliance of women toward dental higiene and not receiring dental care, should be assessed in future studies.